The Final Battle
by H. Reed
Summary: It's the final stand at Hogwarts. Voldemort's forces are looking for Harry Potter. The students are willing to help, but it comes at the cost of friends, family, and loved ones. The time has come to stand up.
1. Chapter 1: Fallen Shields

**The Final Battle. **

Chapter 1: Fallen Shields

"Oh my god."

Cecil was standing on the Astronomy Tower, staring as the bridge blew up. The D.A. had planned this, and he was not at the meeting, so he did not know what was going to happen. He trusted the others knew what they were doing, and leaped off the railing. He cast a cushioning charm just in time, landing exactly five feet from where the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore had landed only a year before. His black ginkgo wood wand was clutched in his left hand. The leather shoes he wore tapped the ground lightly as he touched down, the cobblestone shaking as the shockwave from the bridge resonated throughout the entire school. He remembered how Professor Snape had escaped in the Great Hall, and how he, Cecil, had managed to resist being put in the dungeons. He had quite a record of being a troublemaker, but not as bad as the rest of the Slytherins. So he, and a few others had been permitted to stay and fight. Feeling a bit out of place, Cecil turned and headed to the entrance of the School, the cobblestone bridge, where everyone was converging. He heard a shout echo through the air as he ran. "Piertotem Locomotor!" He turned and saw the stone statues leap from their pedestals and land on the ground with a crash. The stone floor cracked under the weight of the many statues now leaping and converging where McGonagall had pointed her wand. 

He caught the professor's eye, and she nodded at him. It had been her who had permitted Cecil to stay, even though he was only a fifth year. The reason being only he had gained an Outstanding in his Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes out of all the other Slytherins. 

"Cecil!" A voice echoed from above him. Turning his head to the stars, he saw his friend, Isabel, perched on one of the arches over a doorway. "Ascendio!" He flew up to her and landed on the roof.

"I-Isabel!" He stammered. "I thought-"  
>"I had left? <em>Hell<em> no." She looked concerned, yet emotion was flowing out, coating her voice like honey. "I'm really worried. So I stayed, knowing that I should do my best to protect this school. It's like my second home. If we don't, well, I won't be here. I would rather die fighting for this school and not live under that bastard's reign."  
>"Isabel..." Cecil never heard this much affection in her voice. He had crushed on her before, but he never got round to asking her out. Her yellow eyes reminded him of a cheetah, watching it's prey before a strike. That explained her Patronus. "Listen, Isabel... I want to tell you something... if... if something goes wrong... and one of us don't make it."<br>He paused. What if she didn't feel the same? Well, it was now or never.  
>"Isabel, I lo-"<br>But his words were cut short as her lips met his. Cecil placed his hands, the left still clutching his wand, on her side. She wrapped hers around his neck, and he felt like the school was far, far away. They sat there, embraced, for what felt like an eternity. That eternity was cut short by a blast that separated them from each other.  
>He yelled, falling down the side of the tower. He heard Isabel screaming from the other side. The wind whipped through his oak colored hair, his charcoal bag flying behind him. Twisting and waving his wand, he cast a cushioning charm in Isabel's direction, and slowed down his fall enough to grab hold of a ledge and clamber up. His favourite sweater had holes in it and there was a newly formed gash on the side of his cheek.<br>"Isabel! Are you alright?" He hollered, waiting for her reply. He was relieved when he heard a faint "Yes!' come from the other side of the tower. Suddenly, the night sky turned blood red.  
>"Oh sh-." He swore, though it remained unheard, thanks to the yells of triumph coming from the enemy. The shields had fallen. He leaped, crashing to the ground, but rolling in time to soften his fall, his sweater ripping a bit more. Dark shadows were flying through the sky, and explosions and shouts, with the occasional scream, rent the, until recently, calm air.<p>

The battle had begun. 


	2. Chapter 2: Interhouse Unity

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed Chapter 1! I've been writing this out, so I have a LOT to post. But I'll post fragments. When I finish the story, I'll let you know.

Rubble was strewn everywhere. Cecil dashed down a corridor, skidding to a stop at a corner to peer around. With a deafening explosion, the wall blew inwards and he saw a black robed figure dash out of the smoke and stun one of the students distracted by the explosion. Spinning on his heels around the corner, he pointed his wand at the hooded man and shouted, "Expelliarmus!" The wand clattered to the ground, the sinister character leaped to the side, but not fast enough, for before he could grab his wand, Cecil had used his wand to toss the Death Eater outside the hole he had made and slammed him back into the wall, knocking him out, and flinging him off the side of the building.

Cecil darted through the hole, scaling to an upper balcony where a fellow student was clashing with another Death Eater. Leaping up, Cecil darted under a spell and cast a shield charm, knocking the foe back, giving Cecil and his ally a chance to stun him, sending the Death Eater reeling head over heels off the balcony onto the courtyard floor.  
>"Thanks." The fifth year, who Cecil recognised from the Griffindor Quidditch team, stuck out his hand. "I know you, you're-"<br>"Cecil." He took the hand shake, and for one second thought there was some sort of peace between Griffindor and Slytherin, for the first time in years. "And you're Roxarse. You oka-"

But the question was cut short as the water rushed around both of the students, trapping them in a sphere of liquid. Neither could breathe, and they began to clutch their throats. The Death Eater just cackled, his friend joining in on the spell, causing more pressure so that Cecil thought his back may break at any second. Just as he was about to pass out, letting a dribble of bubbles out of the corner of his mouth, he heard a shrill voice yell out behind the Death Eaters.

"Get the _hell_ away from my _boyfriend_ you bastards!"

Cecil's eyes shot open and he sputtered, as Isabel helped him up off the ground, his clothes were drenched. Looking over, he saw Roxarse getting up, his clothes wet too. The two Death Eaters had been blown away by her Reducto spell. The floor beneath them had given way, and they fell down into a blast of the Killing Curse that someone, friend or foe, had cast.  
>"You're damn <em>brilliant<em>, you are." Cecil gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and she turned as red as a Blast-Ended Skrewt.  
>"Thanks." Isabel's voice was soft, but it became stronger as she looked over her shoulder at the flashes of light from down below. Cecil could see the question begin to form in her mouth, but he asked first, beating her to it. "We should help other people. Any ideas?"<br>He could see the cogs of Isabel's imagination begin to turn. Her eyes were pointed down, and she was rubbing her forehead.


	3. Chapter 3: Death of an Innocent

If you read this far, congrats! I'm actually posting ALL I have right now, but more is on the way!

"Got it."  
>Roxarse moved closer to hear what she had to say; he had been watching the doorways, wand at the ready.<br>"I heard that some younger students have snuck back into the castle, lets try and find them to see if they need any help."  
>A loud yell cut her off, and all three of them spun around, instinctively gripping their wands tight. Looking down towards the origin of the yell, Roxarse let out a gasp. They barely heard what the small figure was saying, the noise of the battle was too great. It was a student, a year or two younger than them.<p>

"Help! Can anyone hear me?"  
>Behind an enourmous amount of rubble, Colin Creevy was protecting a fellow student, a Slytherin, but not holding his own. Without thinking, Roxarse and Cecil leaped down, landing in front of Colin. Looking closer, Cecil saw it was Grace, who had been wounded, not fatally, but enough to bring her down to the ground, by some flying projectile. Together, Roxarse and Cecil blasted the advancing Death Eater into a wall, where he was crushed by a giant falling piece of rubble. Isabel ran over to Grace, and put some Dittany on her wounds, summoning it from Snape's supplies.<p>

Colin was quickly thanking all three of them, and when Grace got up, she had a troubled look on her face, muttering a thanks from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes thinned with determination for some unseen objective or goal, which sent her dashing off back into the fray of the battle.  
>"She's pretty tough for a girl." Cecil grinned for the first time during the battle.<br>Without warning, there was a flash of green. Cecil turned around, Isabel let out a soft shriek, and Roxarse fell to his knees, as the lifeless body of Colin Creevy fell to the ground. The killer let out a laugh, and dashed away.

"BASTARD!" Roxarse yelled, tears glistening in his eyes. Roxarse followed him, and soon they could hear him shouting, growing fainter every second. Then they heard a cackle, cut short by a yell of "Stupefy!"  
>Suddenly, Voldemort spoke out to them. He decided to give them time to take care of their injured, and move the dead. Isabel's hands were over her mouth, as she began to cry silently over Colin's body.<br>"You go help tend the wounded, I'll get Colin out of here." Cecil put his arm around her, and began to hug her, holding back tears. "Colin, you died fighting, and even though we don't know you, there is no greater honour than dying for the very school you love. And no matter what, you didn't die in vain. We _will_ win this war. Together."  
>He closed the eyes, of the once, and never again, sugar-high child from Gryffindor.<p>

Beginning to lift up Colin's body was pretty easy, but he still accepted help from another Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom. They carried him, and Cecil thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye, but it was probably his own imagination.  
>"I can take him from here, Neville."<br>He hoisted Colin on his shoulder, and began to walk away, towards the Great Hall.  
>Once he arrived, he saw Isabel sitting, helping Grace's fresh wounds she had received after dashing off into the battle with some more dittany, as Grace told her about the Death Eaters she beat. Isabel nodded at her, and asked her something. The air seemed to tense up, as Grace's facial expression turned taught, and she hung her head, pointing to her left. Cecil carefully lowered Colin's body down onto a blanket. He looked at the boy, a pang in his heart. Why did he have to die?<p> 


	4. Chapter 4: Losses

This is actually the last chapter I've written. The rest is in progress.

Looking around, Cecil was filled with sadness from everything in the last four hours. Suddenly, his legs gave out, and he grabbed the nearest table to support himself. The overwhelming fatigue that had engulfed him was showing, he had to sit down with his head in his hands to feel better. Suddenly he felt a slight weight come to rest on his shoulder. "You alright?" Cecil turned, and found his friend, Joy. "I just got back. About a couple of hours ago, really."  
>"Where have you been?" Cecil asked, curious. "I mean, I know you weren't at school, so I was really worried they got to you."<br>"I've been running, mostly." Joy swished her hair out of her eyes, the scarf she wore was pulled loosely around her neck, the red and gold color bright against the grey of rubble. "You?"  
>"I've been fine, getting beaten around by the Carrows, and most of these bruises, cuts, and gashes aren't really from the battle at all. You should see Seamus Finnigan, hes got the worst of it. There's one on hi-"<br>But Joy never found out where the injury inflicted from the torture caused by the Carrows. For Lord Voldemort's voice had just rung throughout the hall.

Harry Potter was dead.


End file.
